Back in 1973 I made a camper van conversion. Available options were primitive by today's choices. I chose an AC/DC compressor driven dorm-room sized refrigerator. We planned to be driving more than we were dry camping, and plugged in to 120v house current for lengthy overnights. Fall back was a good old "Igloo" ice chest. I mounted a big deep cycle battery under the rear of the van, right under the refer. Your very helpful videos always remind me of those 'good old days.' Thank you.
@@RollingLiving i thinks they will be very complimentary! this was a great comparison of idle consumption of inverters, too which is far too often overlooked!
For my bus's fridge, I'm thinking about using a small chest freezer with an external thermostat (like home-brewing folk use) that would have significantly lower power consumption compared to a standard upright fridge, and to use the external thermostat to completely turn off its dedicated inverter when the fridger doesn't need to run, then there would be essentially no standby power consumption. I don't know however if inverters tolerate being turned on and off so often, and would they able to start a typical freezer's capacitor-start compressor if they weren't already in sleep mode? Maybe a time-delay switch would be needed for the fridger? A Samlex PST-1500 inverter has a remote input that can turn it on or off with an Ignition start or an optional remote on/off switch (or a thermostat?). If this setup works, it could be a way to have a cheap 120VAC fridge that uses minimum overall power. Or maybe this is all just a silly idea!
I like your thinking about the freezer. I have read about that being done, with the primary advantage (it seems) being that freezers are much better insulated. Your other questions certainly spark some thought, John. Hmmmm...
Is there a practical way to wire a 120V fridge in a way that the thermostat also controls when the inverter turns on? So have a small inverter just for the compressor and the rest of the fridge (light) convert to 12V.
Well, that's an interesting thought. Some inverters require a push-on/push-off on the remote, but quite a few have a regular on/off switch...and someone who knew what they were doing could, pretty easily, tie it into the fridge thermostat.
Back in 1973 I made a camper van conversion. Available options were primitive by today's choices. I chose an AC/DC compressor driven dorm-room sized refrigerator. We planned to be driving more than we were dry camping, and plugged in to 120v house current for lengthy overnights. Fall back was a good old "Igloo" ice chest. I mounted a big deep cycle battery under the rear of the van, right under the refer. Your very helpful videos always remind me of those 'good old days.' Thank you.
Interesting and very useful information. Many thanks.
David in the UK.
Thanks for sticking through the boring math, David.
@@RollingLiving Not boring at all Ross, they are invaluble calculations that many fail to consider when sizing battery powered systems.
haha man i filmed the same video last week! well great minds must think alike. great video
Oh crap, my friend. I'm sure your video's better. I look forward to seeing it. 👍
@@RollingLiving i thinks they will be very complimentary! this was a great comparison of idle consumption of inverters, too which is far too often overlooked!
that solar system joke was a good one hahahaha
Thanks. When I was watching it after the first edit I realized it sounded kind of funny to design a solar system. 😂
For my bus's fridge, I'm thinking about using a small chest freezer with an external thermostat (like home-brewing folk use) that would have significantly lower power consumption compared to a standard upright fridge, and to use the external thermostat to completely turn off its dedicated inverter when the fridger doesn't need to run, then there would be essentially no standby power consumption. I don't know however if inverters tolerate being turned on and off so often, and would they able to start a typical freezer's capacitor-start compressor if they weren't already in sleep mode? Maybe a time-delay switch would be needed for the fridger? A Samlex PST-1500 inverter has a remote input that can turn it on or off with an Ignition start or an optional remote on/off switch (or a thermostat?). If this setup works, it could be a way to have a cheap 120VAC fridge that uses minimum overall power. Or maybe this is all just a silly idea!
I like your thinking about the freezer. I have read about that being done, with the primary advantage (it seems) being that freezers are much better insulated. Your other questions certainly spark some thought, John. Hmmmm...
Well done! 👍
Why, thanks!
Is there a practical way to wire a 120V fridge in a way that the thermostat also controls when the inverter turns on? So have a small inverter just for the compressor and the rest of the fridge (light) convert to 12V.
Well, that's an interesting thought. Some inverters require a push-on/push-off on the remote, but quite a few have a regular on/off switch...and someone who knew what they were doing could, pretty easily, tie it into the fridge thermostat.
what's the 12v consumption for 12v fridge in comparison?
Thanks. That was interesting. I'm afraid you might loose some of the people behind with the math. It was presented simply, so I hope not.
Thanks, Brian. It's there if they want to tough it out...and it might help some folks. I appreciate you watching and sharing your thoughts.
Who spends $2K on a refer for a skoolie? Not this tight ass. 😄